Britain is on track to suffer its coldest March in more than 50 years as conservationists warned that the prolonged winter weather was damaging wildlife.

Forecasters said the latest cold spell was keeping average temperatures several degrees below the norm, with the next seven days to be chillier than usual.

The Central England Temperature – covering an area bounded by Lancashire, Bristol and London – shows temperatures have been 2.8C lower than normal.

Compared: These satellite images from March 2012 (left) and March 2013 (right) show how far we’ve fallen from the March 2012 high of 23.6C recorded in Aboyne, Aberdeenshire, to -12.9C in the same village last week

The last time March was so cold was in 1962, when the average temperature was 2.4C (36F) – or 4.1C below the norm.

Now these satellite maps show just how
far we’ve fallen from the March 2012 high of 23.6C recorded in Aboyne,
Aberdeenshire, to a daytime low of -7.8C in the same village on Monday
of last week.

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That astonishing difference - which is 36.5C when considering Aboyne's even colder overnight low last week of -12.9C - in just one year comes as another snowfall covered northern Britain overnight.

A Met Office spokesman said: ‘This time last year the UK was under the influence of high pressure. This gave us clear skies, plenty of sunshine and with a light southerly breeze, temperatures that were well above average.

Highs and lows: Charlotte Robertson, two, plays with daffodils in a park in Aboyne, Aberdeenshire, on March 27 2012 (left), while spring chickens huddle against the cold in the same village last week on March 11 2013 (right)

Sun and snow: Richmond Park in south-west London seen on March 15 2012 (left) and March 11 2013 (right)

‘This year, with a strong easterly
wind bringing cold air from Scandinavia and Eastern Europe, we have
quite the opposite with eastern parts of the UK in particular seeing
snow, ice and temperatures around 20C lower.

‘The
direction of the wind therefore plays a major part in what type of
weather you and I will see, especially as we have the Atlantic Ocean to
our west and continental Europe to our south and east.’

'This time last year the UK was under the influence of high pressure. This gave us clear skies, plenty of sunshine and with a light southerly breeze, temperatures that were well above average'

Met Office spokesman

Up
to four inches of snow was predicted to settle in parts of Scotland and
north England by this morning, with more expected to fall during the
day as temperatures hover around a bitter 3C.

The Met Office has issued a number of
amber weather warnings across north-east England and central and
eastern Scotland urging people to be prepared for disruption.

But regions south of Cumbria and Yorkshire escaped the snowy weather, instead set to enjoy a dry day with relatively warmer temperatures, of up to 9C in London, with a risk of scattered showers.

MeteoGroup forecaster Matt Dobson said: ‘It's a real north-south split today. Over high ground up to 10cms (3.9in) could have fallen over night, with the potential for the same amount again today.

‘Even down to sea level there could be a covering of between 1cm (0.4in) and 4cm (1.6in), very likely in Edinburgh.

‘In the north of England there will be up to 6cm (2.4in) overnight and a few more falling throughout the day, along with higher parts of north Wales.

Extraordinary: Thousands of starlings swoop high above the snow covered fields near Bowes, County Durham

Beautiful: The starlings were on their way to their winter roost as the arctic weather continued in England

Staying together: These two lambs snuggle up to their mother in a snow-covered field in County Durham

Grazing: Heavy snow in the Borders and many areas of Scotland is causing concern from farmers as they prepare for the lambing season

‘But south of the country there will be few showers but a lot of dry weather and some sunshine breaking through.’

'Whether you think that Spring officially starts on March 1 or March 21, this is certainly unusually cold for this time of year. It's very cold for mid-March when we should expect much higher temperatures'

MeteoGroup forecaster Matt Dobson

More snow is expected on Friday. He added that the cold weather and snow storms across the north were likely to linger throughout the week and could even lead to blizzard conditions in Scotland.

It continues a cold month across the UK which has brought an unwelcome delay to spring weather. Mr Dobson said that while snow is not uncommon for March, the continued cold weather is.

He said: ‘Whether you think that Spring officially starts on March 1 or March 21, this is certainly unusually cold for this time of year. It's very cold for mid-March when we should expect much higher temperatures.

‘It's not unusual for it to snow in
March, in fact we are far more likely to see snow at Easter than at
Christmas. What is unusual for March is how persistent the cold weather
and snow is.’

No-go area: A motorist is unable to continue on a snow-covered road near Forfar in Angus, Scotland

Splash: Several motorists were left stranded after their cars got stuck in floods near Witham, Essex today

Three-day forecast: The cold snap will continue this week, although northern Scotland will see some sunshine

Today and tomorrow: These Met Office maps show an amber weather warning in place for parts of Scotland

This time last year: Alex Hamilton (left) rollerskates in Hyde Park, central London, on March 28 2012, while Cherry Lewin and Tony Johnson (right) enjoy the weather in Warkworth, Northumberland, on March 29 2012

He added that it is too early to predict a white Easter. The cold weather is likely to bring more travel misery today.

Yesterday a number of key commuter routes were disrupted, including some south-east England journeys which were hit by a build-up of ice on the ‘third rail’ from which trains get their power.

'It's not unusual for it to snow in March, in fact we are far more likely to see snow at Easter than at Christmas. What is unusual for March is how persistent the cold weather and snow is'

MeteoGroup forecaster Matt Dobson

Services in Hampshire, Surrey and Kent were particularly affected, with a number of trains being delayed and cancelled, while passengers were left waiting for trains between Rugby, Northampton and London, and signalling problems in Glasgow led to delays.

Police closed the A66 across the Pennines between Bowes, County Durham, and Stainmore, Cumbria, because of heavy snow and Leeds Bradford International Airport was closed.

The bad weather will mean cargo ship MV Danio, which ran aground on Saturday on rocks near a Farne Islands lighthouse, three miles off the Northumberland coast, will stay put for at least a week.

IT'S BEEN COLD, BUT CERTAINLY NOT A RECORD-BREAKING BRITISH WINTER

Britain has been gripped by a long and cold winter, but forecasters say temperatures were not particularly exceptional when comparing it to previous years.

Winter 2012/13 was only 0.4C below the UK mean of 3.7C on average during January 2013, according to Met Office forecasters who studied data back to 1910.

Figures for the winter as a whole showed a UK mean temperature of 3.3C, which makes it colder than the 4.6C in 2011/12, but warmer than 3.2C in 2008/09, 1.6C in 2009/10 and 2.4C in 2010/11.

However, even further back, there was 4.9C recorded in 2007/8 and 5.6C in 2006/07, with the latter being the second warmest winter for Britain on record behind the 5.8C in 1988/89.